Combined winch and cleat



1963 J. H. ELLSWORTH 3,115,113

COMBINED WINCH AND CLEAT Filed May '7, 1962 W F162. 2 F163 I TI L 10 12 WE v 1 NTOR. i

JACK H. ELLSWORTH BY United States Patent 3,115,113 COMBINED WlNCH AND CLEAT Jack Howard Ellsworth, lain-A W. Glenoalrs Blvd, Glendale, Qalif. Filed May 7, 1962, Ser. No. 193,023 4 Claims. (ill. 114--218) This invention relates to an improved means for securing halliards and other lines.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a cleat type of fastener for the end of a halliard or other line; said fastener having the added and novel capacity for use as a winch to apply tension to the line secured thereby, and the illustrated embodiment of the invention is particularly designed for use on sailing craft as a halliard cleat.

It constitutes an improvement over a conventional cleat in that it includes a means of tensioning the halliard by the leverage provided within the cleat itself as well while preserving the conventional means of securing or tieing cit the halliard.

A conventional cleat is useful only as a means of securing or tieing off a halliard only with as much tension on the halliard as can be manually imposed without the aid of mechanical leverage. A greater amount of tension than 'can be thus manually applied is often desirable to properly form the draft or shape of the sail and in the case of head sails, where a steel wire luif rope is used, a good deal of tension is necessary to prevent the luff of the sail from sagging to leeward and the sagging of the luff or leading edge of the headsail causes a reduction in boat speed and pointing ability.

A description of the illustrated embodiment of the invention, its parts and operation are as follows: Referring to the drawing, part ll, F168. 1 through 5, is the rectangular, metal base plate which is adapted to be mounted on the mast or spar by means of four flat head screws through four countersunk holes 13, FIGS. 1 and 3.

Parts 2, 3 and 7, FIGS. 2, 4 and 5, form the cleat body, part 2 is the cleat body base, part 3 is the cleat body top, the opposite ends thereof projecting beyond the spacers and the corresponding ends of the base and constituting halliard retaining limbs and parts 7, 7 are the cleat body spacers. These parts may be fabricated together to form the cleat body or they may be incorporated into one casting as may best suit manufacturing practice.

The cleat body pivots on the pivot post 8, which is mounted into the outer face of the base plate 1, by means of threads or a press fit.

The cleat body is held onto the pivot post 8, by the screw 4 which is threaded into the outer end of the post 8.

The cleat body is held in a locked position by the engagement of the spring biased lock pin 9 with the lock pin hole 11.

The lock pin is yieldingly urged into the lock pin hole 11 by the lock pin spring 10 when (the cleat body is in its locked position. The lock pin spring 10 is a compression spring surrounding the body of the lock pin and reacting between a shoulder in the bore in which the lock pin is reciprocable and lock pin collar 12 which is formed integrally with or fixedly attached to the lock pin. The lock pin projects beyond the outer surface of the cleat body top and the end thereof carries a knob which provides a means tor manually disengaging the lock pin with the hole 11 to release the cleat body for rotational movement. The look pin knob 5 may be attached to the lock pin by any suitable means such as threads or a press lit. The ramps 6, 6 are inclined plane surfaces on the outer surface of the base plate disposed in the path of travel of the lock pin and at opposite sides of the lock pin hole and 3,115,113 Patented Dec. 24, 1963 act to raise the lock pin to clear the edge of the base plate as the cleat body is rotated in either direction.

Mounting and operation are as follows:

The device, preferably, is mounted on a mast or spar and in a vertical position with the pivot post disposed at the opposite end of the base plate and approximately 3 or 4 feet above the deck or cabin top so that, when employed to tension a halliard, the halliard will be pulled generally downwardly as the cleat body is rotated either clockwise or counterclockwise to tension the halliard whichever is more convenient for the operator.

The following operating procedure, by way of example, assumes clockwise rotation in tensioning a halliard. Assuming that the device is mounted on the port side of the mast with the user standing slightly forward of the device and facing it, the cleat body is unlocked from the base plate by pulling the lock pin out of the lock pin hole. The cleat body is swung through an arc of approximately degrees to bring the lock pin end of the cleat body vertically directly above the end of the base plate with the cleat body in this position, the halliard end is reeved through the opening in the cleat body which is bounded by the said portions of the cleat body from the after side bringing it through the forward side towards the user and the halliard is pulled through the unlocked cleat body until the sail is fully hoisted and there is a small amount of tension on the halliard. Then the portion of the halliard which has been reeved through the cleat body opening, is wrapped up and over the top of the cleat body in a clockwise direction for at least two full turns, after which, a downward pull is applied on the tail of the halliard to cause the cleat body to swing down to locking position, thus acting as a winch to wind up a portion of the halliard and increasing the tension on the halliard. Once the cleat body is past a horizontal position the leverage factor increases, increasing to infinity at the locked position. The halliard may now be finished off by being looped about the limb portions 7, 7 of the cleat body top in the same manner as with a conventional cleat.

To lower the sail, the loops used to finish oif the halliard are removed, the turns of the halliard about the cleat body are unwrapped to ease off the tension on the halliard. The lock pin is withdrawn to permit the cleat body to swing in a counterclockwise direction about 300 degrees which will position the cleat body inclined with respect to a horizontal position so that the halliard will pass freely through it and the sail permitted to be lowered swiftly.

When the halliard end is first reeved through the cleat body opening, a knot such as an overhand or figure eight knot may be formed in the end of the halliard to prevent the halliard from slipping through the cleat body and being lost up the mast.

What I claim is:

1. A tensioning and securing means for the end of a halliard or other line comprising in combination a fiat metal base plate mountable upon a surface relatively immovable with respect to the line to be tensioned and secured, a cleat body mounted for rotation on said base plate, spring biased, manually releasable locking means effective to interengage said base plate and said cleat body to prevent rotation of said cleat body on said base plate, said cleat body presenting a surface upon which a line to be tensioned can be Wound and tensioned incident to rotation of said cleat body on said base plate; said cleat body further having limb portions projecting beyond said winding receiving surface and about which limbs the end of the line can be finished off after having been initially wound on said surface and said cleat body is being held against rotation by said locking means.

2. A sail halliard tensioning and securing apparatus comprising a rectangular mounting and base plate countersunk holes in each of the four corners to accept mounting screws, two oppositely sloping ramps formed integrally with said base plate operative to cause a lock pin to raise when approached from either a clockwise or a counterclockwise direction, a pivot post rigidly attached to said base plate and affording a pivotal mounting on which a cleat body is mounted for rotation thereabout, cap screw means of holding said cleat body on said post, a releasable lock pin carried by said cleat body, a lock pin hole located in the base plate between said ramps to be engageable by said lock pin to hold said cleat body against rotation; said cleat body comprising a base portion, a pair of spacer portions and a top portion; said top portion including ends forming limb portions projecting beyond said base plate; said spacer portions and limb portions connecting the base section to the limb section with one of said spacer portions journaled upon said pivot post and the other of said spacer portions carrying said lock pin; the lengths of said portions being equal to substantially twice the diameter of a halliard wound thereon.

3. A sail halliard tensioning and securing apparatus comprising a mounting base plate having two integral ramps so located in the base plate to cause a lock pin to raise when approached from a clockwise or counterclockwise direction, a lock pin hole located in the base plate to accept the lock pin for the purpose of holding a cleat body in a locked position, a cleat body pivotally mounted for rotation on a post rigidly attached to said base plate; said cleat body being of a shape and dimension to permit a halliard which is to be tensioned thereby to be wrapped about it; said cleat body having a cavity housing a lock pin and spring assembly, a lock pin knob carried by said lock pin to facilitate lifting said lock pin from said lock pin hole in said base plate to allow said cleat body to be swung to an unlocked position substantially a half revolution from said locked position at which, after having the halliard of a hoisted sail wrapped thereon, said cleat body may then be rotated about said post towards said locked position to increase the tension on the standing part of the halliard, said lock pin upon contacting one of said ramps in said base plate, will be retracted and with continued rotation of the cleat body towards said locked position will be held in said retracted position by said base plate until allowed to be forced into said lock pin hole in said base plate by said lock pin spring.

4. A sail halliard tensioning and securing apparatus comprising a mounting base plate, a post rigidly attached to said base plate, a cleat body pivotally mounted for rotation on said post and having a halliard receiving surface of a post rigidly attached to the base-plate and of shape and dimension to permit a halliard to be tensioned to be wrapped about it and said cleat body, further containing a cavity housing a lock pin and spring assembly; said base plate having integrally formed ramps disposed in the path of travel of said lock pin incident to rotation of said cleat body and a lock pin receiving hole between said ramps, said ramps being effective to lift said lock pin incident to traverse of said base plate by said lock pin for spring biased entrance into said lock pin hole and said lock pin assembly including manual means to disengage said lock pin and said hole with resultant unlocking said cleat body from said locked position and said cleat body including a pair of limb portions affording manually graspable means to aid in rotating the cleat body about said post in a manner to effect tension on a halliard wound thereon; said limbs, further, affording means around which the halliard may be secured or finished off when the tensioning of the halliard has been completed.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 533,193 Granger Jan. 29, 1895 

1. A TENSIONING AND SECURING MEANS FOR THE END OF A HALLIARD OR OTHER LINE COMPRISING IN COMBINATION A FLAT METAL BASE PLATE MOUNTABLE UPON A SURFACE RELATIVELY IMMOVABLE WITH RESPECT TO THE LINE TO BE TENSIONED AND SECURED, A CLEAT BODY MOUNTED FOR ROTATION ON SAID BASE PLATE, SPRING BIASED, MANUALLY RELEASABLE LOCKING MEANS EFFECTIVE TO INTERENGAGE SAID BASE PLATE AND SAID CLEAT BODY TO PREVENT ROTATION OF SAID CLEAT BODY ON SAID BASE PLATE, SAID CLEAT BODY PRESENTING A SURFACE UPON WHICH A LINE TO BE TENSIONED CAN BE WOUND AND TENSIONED INCIDENT TO ROTATION OF SAID CLEAT BODY ON SAID BASE PLATE; SAID CLEAT BODY FURTHER HAVING LIMB PORTIONS PROJECTING BEYOND SAID WINDING RECEIVING SURFACE AND ABOUT WHICH LIMBS THE END OF THE LINE CAN BE FINISHED OFF AFTER HAVING BEEN INITIALLY WOUND ON SAID SURFACE AND SAID CLEAT BODY IS BEING HELD AGAINST ROTATION BY SAID LOCKING MEANS. 